Damian Pickett · No. 14
Thursday 17 September 2026
Snap’s $2,195 standalone Specs are shipping, and early hands-on reviews say the AR apps actually feel useful. It is the clearest sign yet that consumer AR glasses have moved from concept to product.
Claude Cowork and Claude chat become a single interface, rolling out first to Pro and Max subscribers. It simplifies a product line that had grown confusing across chat, Cowork and Claude Code.
Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot is now the best-reviewed video game film ever on Rotten Tomatoes, a rare critical result for a genre more used to being written off.
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
Turning 300+ episode transcripts into a fun, playable game with AI
Lenny turned 300+ podcast transcripts into a playable game, a concrete example of building a real product with AI rather than just talking about it, timely alongside today’s Claude and Google Home news.
Listen · Founders
Bloomberg built an information and product empire through sheer craft and relentless focus, the kind of operator story Damian studies.
Listen · David Senra
Catmull co-built Pixar alongside Steve Jobs, squarely in Damian’s wheelhouse of Disney, Jobs and the great product operators.
Listen · Acquired
A joyous case study in brand and product craft, a nice complement to today’s product launch news from Snap and Anthropic.
Both labs plan to place evaluators inside their own operations to watch for risk. Researchers welcome the access but say real oversight needs transparency the labs have not yet committed to.
OpenAI is publishing a framework for tracking, investigating and disclosing cases where its models misbehave, alongside six example reports, a step toward logging failures like other industries do.
Google is giving early access to an MCP server for Google Home, letting agents like Claude and ChatGPT control devices and review camera summaries, one of the biggest smart home systems yet to open up.
OpenAI and AARP are running free, hands-on ChatGPT workshops for 1,000 older adults across 10 US cities. A practical, unglamorous use of AI that is easy to root for.
Founder Matthew de Jonge wants hearing aids to be as easy to adopt as glasses. Fortell has raised $163 million to build AI-driven devices for a market long dominated by a handful of manufacturers.
The robot travels to broken-down machinery and carries out repairs on the spot. A practical, slightly charming answer to the question of what humanoid robots are actually for.
The 10.3-inch colour e-reader runs Android 16 and can access the Google Play Store. Faster page turns sound minor, but it is the detail that has held colour e-ink back from feeling like a real reader.
Features that debuted on Samsung’s foldables, including My FanCam, are rolling out to the wider Galaxy S26 line, spreading its best software ideas across the range rather than keeping them exclusive.
In his annual iPhone camera review, Stalman tests the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture, photographic styles and Apple’s Reference Image feature. The most useful independent read yet on how it performs.
Apple’s overhauled Health app, previewed at its September event, adds new Insights and Longevity tabs, bringing the app closer to rivals like Whoop and Oura on Apple’s own hardware.
A new photography exhibition curated by Kathy Ryan showcases the iPhone 18 Pro’s pro camera system. Apple using craft, not spec sheets, to make the case for its camera.
Steve Wozniak says he is having a little more fun on X this year, speaking at events and now selling his own merchandise, a small, cheerful note from one of the industry’s most enduring characters.
The British film follows two people who bond over a shared Parkinson’s diagnosis, based on writer Paul Mayhew-Archer’s own experience. Critics single out Linney and Ifans for understated performances.
Hans Petter Moland’s period epic, adapted from Knut Hamsun’s novel, is Norway’s submission for the international feature Oscar, a muscular, weatherbeaten piece of classical filmmaking.
McAvoy and Wilson discussed stepping behind the camera for the first time, alongside filmmakers Rachel Morrison and Liz Garbus, at Variety’s Future in Focus panel.
It is the pair’s fourth film together. Pearce plays a violent pub owner who traps a troubled stranger, in what looks like another close, character-driven two-hander from the duo.
George and new teammate Mike Conley delivered on the easy chemistry Celtics fans hoped for at their introduction on Tuesday. Both said they are happy to be in Boston.
Conley says the pair have been working out together over the summer, building chemistry ahead of the season, an early sign of how the reshaped Celtics backcourt might fit together.
Despite questions about the trade that brought him to Boston, analysis suggests George’s defensive impact remains real, a case for what he adds beyond replacing Jaylen Brown.
Maye and Ann Michael Maye paid for the Amazon classroom wish lists of more than 50 teachers and support staff at a Providence elementary school, ahead of Sunday’s home opener.
New England hosts Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium on Sunday for its 2026 home opener, looking to bounce back after a 13-10 opening loss to Seattle.
Maye threw three interceptions in his final three possessions of the opening loss to Seattle. He and the Patriots get an immediate chance to answer that at home against Pittsburgh.
The four-time world champion started at the back of the field and worked his way past 100 amateur drivers inside 14 laps at Silverstone, a joyful gap between amateur and elite.
Formula 1’s 2027 calendar increases sprint weekends from six to 10, with Monaco hosting one for the first time. The 24-race season opens in Bahrain and closes in Abu Dhabi.
Vettel set the record in 2010 at 23 years and four months. He says he would welcome Antonelli, Mercedes’ teenage prodigy, taking it from him.
Boston lost 7-3 in Texas but remains in solid position for a playoff spot, with the magic number still ticking down even through a rough week on the road.
Interim manager Chad Tracy praised the aggressiveness of a Triple-A speedster as Boston shapes its postseason roster, a pure speed-and-chaos option for October.
Both pitchers are progressing toward a return as Boston pushes for the postseason. Fresh arms in the bullpen would matter a great deal down the stretch.
Furniture makers Craighill explain the origins of pips and nubs, the small tactile details that show up on dice, LEGO bricks and countless other everyday objects, a short tour of unglamorous good design.
